Tuesday, June 21, 2011

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 109.63 points, or 0.91%, to finish at 12,190.63. The S&P 500 climbed 17.16 points, or 1.34%, to close at 1,295.52. The Nasdaq Composite rallied 57.60 points, or 2.19%, to 2,687.26.

The market expected a vote of confidence in Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou new cabinet to pass on Tuesday -- the first of three hurdles the government must clear to avert the euro zone's first sovereign debt default. A successful vote could reassure investors that the country will push through budget cuts required for getting the latest installment of emergency loans. Worries that a default by Greece could upend financial markets have kept investors on edge since early May.

The National Association of Realtors reported Tuesday that existing home sales fell 3.8% to an annualized rate of 4.81 million in May from a rate of 5 million in April.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee started its two-day meeting Tuesday. The central bank's interest rate decision will be announced on Wednesday.

Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) reported Tuesday that its first-quarter profit rose to $603 million, or 65 cents a share, from $463 million, or 47 cents a share, in the prior-year quarter. Revenue rose 6.8 percent to $18.38 billion from $17.20 billion. Analysts, on average, expect the company to report earnings of 62 cents per share on revenue of $18.33 billion. The company also said that contract renewal negotiations with pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts, Inc. (NASDAQ: ESRX) have been unsuccessful, and as a result the company is planning not to be part of Express Scripts' pharmacy provider network as of Jan. 1, 2012. Shares of the company slumped $1.90, or 4.21%, to close at $43.28.

Carnival Corporation (NYSE: CCL) reported that its second quarter profit dropped to $206 million, or 26 cents per share, from $252 million, or 32 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. Revenue rose to $3.6 billion from $3.3 billion. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report earnings of 23 cents per share on revenue of $3.52 billion. Shares of the company surged $1.51, or 4.23%, to $37.24.

Shares of Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) rallied $1.15, or 3.01%, to close at $39.31.

European stocks closed higher. The UK FTSE rose 81.92 points, or 1.44% to 5,775.31. The German DAX and French CAC increased 1.89% and 2.04% respectively.

Subscribe via email

A REQUEST

Hey all the visitors of this blog. If you happen to read any of the writings, please do comment. You perhaps don't know how much pleasure it brings to get to know that someone is reading my work. Please do find time to let me know my assets as well as flaws. All the criticism and suggestions are warmly welcomed.